


show the show that you're the showmance of the show

by Reasons_Why_Im_Crazy



Category: Shake It Up! (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Halloween Costumes, Kinda, One Shot, kinda???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 00:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21170585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reasons_Why_Im_Crazy/pseuds/Reasons_Why_Im_Crazy
Summary: Shake It Up! Chicago hosts another Halloween party, this time with a contest. The best couple costume wins $500 dollars and a spotlight dance! Cece and Rocky wants to win, and so does Gunther and Tinka





	show the show that you're the showmance of the show

Rocky looks herself in the mirror to make sure her halo won’t fall off her outfit. She twists and turns her head, nodding. Yes, it’s comfortable and doesn’t seem too much in the way for others either. She puffs up her white feathery dress and smiles down at her sparkly flats. 

“Hey Cece, are you done yet?” she asks and is answered by the sound of heels click-clacking out from her best friend’s room. Cece appears in the livingroom and does a twirl. 

“What do you think?” Unlike Rocky, who’s dressed as an angel, Cece wears tight black jeans, a black sparkly top, red heels, and a leather jacket with a red inside. She wears black smokey makeup and a red lipstick. She also has devil horns on her head and little skull earrings.

“Better than last time” 

“Duh, because  _ now _ , I don’t need to worry about being scary. I can just be cute! And I’m great at being cute” She plays with her newly curled hair. “But those  _ are not _ cute” She points at Rocky’s face, specifically the two eyes she had painted on her forehead and the two eyes on her cheeks. 

“What? I said I wanted to look more accurate to the mythology”

“We agreed to not be scary this year. Two of your eyes are scary enough” Rocky just huffs. 

They both take a glance at the mirror one last time before leaving for the Shake It Up! Chicago Halloween party. This year, Gary hosts a contest for the best couple costumes, and the ones who wins gets $500 and a spotlight dance at the party. Unlike last year, this party will be filmed and have multiple guest stars that will dance on the stage, and Rocky and Cece are determined to win. No one would doubt that they are perfect for the roles of Demon and Angel, with Cece being a bad girl and Rocky being a good girl. Or so they think. 

The studio is packed with people and the music thumbs loudly from the speakers. There is a bufé table behind the scenes and tables, chairs and couches scattered around the floor. The only part that is empty is the dancing stage, which is supposed to be reserved to the camera people won’t have to shoo people off once they’re live. 

Cece and Rocky walk in, gets greeted by some dancers they’re friends with, and goes off to find Gary. He’s not hard to find as he’s always in his dressing room before airing live. They knock and walk in. 

“Hey Gary!” Cece says in her sweet voice. Gary is sitting in a chair and his hairdresser is doing their last touches. He turns to them.

“Ah, good evening you two! Like the part so far?”

“Yeah, but we just got here” Rocky answers. The girls make an effort to twist around to give their clothes Gary’s attention, but Gary is just looking at himself in the mirror. 

“That’s great. You need to try the hummus, they got like 10 different flavors at the table!”

“We will Gary” Cece says, still smiling. “We just wanted to-”

“So!” Gary exclaims as the hairdresser leaves “What do you guys think of my costume? It’s based on the new movie!” He wears a gritty dark purple suit with a lime green button-up shirt. His foundation is a few shades paler than normal and is not blended by the neck, making it look like he’s wearing a white mark. He has lipstick applied far furner than his lips actually are and dark blue eyeshadow reaching from his brow-bone down to his cheeks, shaped like triangles. His hair has a dark lime green tint to it. 

“Who’re you supposed to look like?” Cece asks and tilts her head. Gary’s smile fades away just a bit until Rocky adds on how great he looks. 

“Nevermind that, you two look nice. Angel and demon fits you two like chips in a Pringles’ packet. Although I’m more impressed by Gunther and Tinka’s version”

“They’re also going as this?” Rocky asks and looks at Cece, who seems to be as unimpressed by that as her. 

“Yeah, and it’s actually the least glittery outfits they’ve ever worn! It’s clear they’ve put effort into it” 

“I’m sure of it” Rocky says, hardly hiding her sarcasm and they leave Gary’s dressing room. 

“Now what?” Cece asks. 

“I guess we won’t win the contest. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right? You know, I actually texted a guy a few days ago and he’s here tonight! I’m sure he’s got a cute bff for  _ my  _ bff!”

“Tell me about it!” Rocky picks up her phone. 

“I’m the angel!”

“And I’m the devil”

“And we are The Hessenheffers!” Gunther and Tinka appears out of nowhere and flaunts their arms the way the usually do it. 

“Gary wasn’t kidding” Cece whispers and Rocky nods along. 

Tinka could be mixed up with a goth. She wears black eyeshadow, just like Cece, but she also has thick winged eyeliner and black lipstick. Her top is red but the fur jacket on top and the tight leather pants are black. Her thick sole boots are so generically goth that she could’ve stolen them from any goth from the streets. They were studded with skulls and spikes. No glitter on sight. Even her hair isn’t in an intricate updo like usual but as a sleek low ponytail. Cece is having a hard time stopping herself staring at her but as she finally lays her eyes on Gunther she forces herself not to gasp. 

Gunther wears a white leather jacket, a white t-shirt underneath and white jeans. He has small wings on his back. They seem to be of better quality that Rocky’s cardboard wings, because they have actual feathers glued to them, but they’re smaller. The only thing shiny on him is the highlighter on his cheeks and the golden eyeshadow. Gold really makes blue more apparent, and Cece can’t stop looking at his eyes. 

“Rocky, why would you want to paint on more eyes to your face? You can’t apply eyeliner nicely on the two you already have!” Tinka drawls. 

“Nice to meet you too, Tinka” Rocky responds. “Glad to finally see your true form tonight, even though I thought it only appeared on full moons” The girls glare at each other until Tinka sees Cece in the line of her peripheral vision. 

“Oh, I see you two copied our idea. Usually one would do that because they make it better, but you don’t seem to get it” Cece bites her tongue to buy her time to come up with a better insult than the one ready to come out. But she can’t. 

“You don’t even look like a demon. You look like a cheap goth wannabe” Tinka burst out laughing. 

“That’s the worst one yet, I believe!” She holds up a snake cane in one hand and her red tail in the other. “Cece, you look like you wanted to be the witch from last year but changed your mind and put on some horns”

“Needless to say, you will not win the couple’s competition” Gunther adds on with a cocky grin. 

“Oh yeah? Well neither will you!” Cece says in defense, just as Gary passes them. 

“Actually none of you are even in the competition yet”

“What!?” all four of them says in unison. 

“It’s the party guests who nominate the couples, you can’t walk up and say you’re a part of the competition. Besides, it’s a contest for  _ couples _ , not duos in general. Which means no bff’s and no twins can enter” Cece, Rocky, and the twins all slump down in disappointment. 

“Couldn’t you have said that earlier?” Rocky asks. 

“All the rules are listed on the website. I told you all to read everything, not just when we open and the  _ no alcohol _ policy” Gary just shrugs and leaves as someone calls for his attention. 

“Well there are still good things coming from this party, like the agent we’re going to meet” Tinka says and glances up at Gunther, but clearly says it loud enough for the girls to hear. 

“An agent wants to speak with  _ you two _ ?” Cece asks in a flat tone. 

“There are many people who want to speak with us” Gunther says with his head high up. They leave before the two could come up with a good come-back. Cece stares at them as they walk away, specifically Gunther’s well-made wings. She wonders if they were purchased or if he made them by hand. Considering it’s Gunther, she assumes he made them himself, then the follow-up question popped up, which is how much it weights carrying them on his back. They look heavy, but Gunther seems to carry them without any efforts. Perhaps it isn’t too much of a surprise either, he has quite broad shoulders- 

“Cece, are you listening?” Rocky snaps her fingers right in front of her face. 

“Huh?” 

“Cameron texted me and said he’s here now”

“Oh, sweet! Where are we gonna meet up?” Cece smiles but Rocky doesn’t follow. “What?”

“Only  _ he _ is here. His friend couldn’t make it to the party. He had to tag along trick or treating with his sister” Rocky mutters and gives her an apologetical look. 

“Oh… well, that’s okay”

“It is?”

“Yeah, you can go and hang out with him anyway” Rocky begins to smile but halts and frowns. 

“You’re okay with that?”

“Sure, I’ll just mingle around and see if I can look cute enough with a guy to get nominated to the competition!” Now Rocky’s smile fades completely. 

“That’s not gonna happen”

“I can try!”

“You can try...” Cece pushes Rocky gently away. 

“Go meet Cameron now” As Cece is completely alone she heads towards the bufé table. It looks as spooky as she thought it would look like, yet it didn’t make it look any less delicious. She takes a platter and shovels food on a plate. Then, she looks for a place to sit. Her eye catches a table-for-two but only one person sits there. It’s Gunther, looking very lonely. Tinka is nowhere to be seen. She head up to him. 

“How’d it go with the agent?”

“She was only interested in Tinka, so I let them speak privately” Gunther glooms and looks over Cece from head to toe. “Where’s your cardboard angel?”

“On a date”

“So you were ditched as well?”

“It’s not so bad” Cece says and sits down next to Gunther. She begins to eat and notices he’s still looking at her. “Okay, maybe it sucks just a little bit” She stuffs her mouth with pumpkin pie. Then the lights dim and Gary steps up on the stage. 

“Welcome to Shake it up! Chicago! Tonight’s party is going amazing, isn’t it folks?!” he looks around as the people around cheers with their glasses. Cece doesn’t cheer but she hears Gunther doing an unimpressed “wooo…” next to her. 

“And tonight is going to get even spooky scary with our guest stars, I assure you, they will send shivers down your spine once they’re done here! Give it up for the Skeletons” The dj plays the music. It starts with a low base drum and xylophones but then the beat drops, the Skeletons comes on the stage and the music hypes up. 

Cece is awestruck of course, she even forgets her worries for the three minutes the dancers are on the stage. She claps once they’re done, and then she goes right back to be bitter. She can’t eat away her sorrows either, she’s full form her first plate. 

“How about we dance?” she says after a while and turns to Gunther, who hasn’t moved from his spot. He looks up from his phone and tilts his head. 

“You want to dance with me? By free will?”

“What about it?”

“Well, remember prom?” Gunther’s expression changes to a more annoyed one but Cece isn’t persuaded. 

“That was ages ago! And I’m too bored to sit around. It’s not like you got anything more important to do” He looks like he’s about to put up a fight, but then he sighs and stands up, putting his phone in the back pocket of his jeans. 

They go to the dancefloor where the music is the loudest and dances. Unlike prom, the song doesn’t suddenly turn slow against her favor, and Cece yet again forgets to be upset. She watches Gunther dance in front of her and he seems to be having more fun than before as well. They make eye-contact and she smiles at him. He smiles back and reaches to take her hand. She accepts and he twirls her around. 

“You know, your costume isn’t that bad actually” she hears him say through the music. 

“I say the same to you. Are the wings homemade?”

“Yeah, why?”

“They look too high quality to be store bought” Gunther laughs at that, and Cece smiles more. The song ends and a new upbeat song plays. They continue to dance. 

With the discolamps shining down and the hot air not filtrating too well, Cece begins to heat up under her leather jacket. As the third song starts to play she walks back to the table. Gunther follows. 

“That was fun” he breathes out. 

“Yeah” Cece takes off her jacket and instantly feels better. It reminds her why she only wear leather outside, where it’s cold. “I’d love some fresh air, though”

“We can head outside for a minute” She nods in agreement and they take the backdoor out. The air is crisp and their breaths fog. The streetlights are far away making the alleyway dark. Cece closes her eyes and listens to the cars in the distance. Usually one would find the traffic noise loud, but after being inside a party with music and talking, this is much more peaceful. She’s interrupted in her thoughts by a light shining and making her shut her eyes tighter. She blinks a few times to see Gunther holding a ring light. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Just checking to see if my face has melted off yet” Gunther answers and looks up. “It’s not so bad just yet, is it?” Cece is yet again distracted by his eyes and forgets to answer for a couple of seconds, but then she shakes her head. 

“It looks good. What about me?” 

“Let’s see…” Gunther shines the ring light on her, holding it above her head. It casts a pretty shadow on him, bringing out his jawline. He moves closer to inspect her face and Cece instinctively holds her breath. 

“Your eyes are pretty” he says in a gentle distant tone, but then he blinks and clears his throat. “You could use a little powder for your foundation, though”

“Has it already creased?” Cece asks in disbelief. Gunther nods and she sighs. 

“It’s not too bad if it’s cheap. How expensive was it?”

“Expensive”

“Oh, then it’s kind of bad” Cece groans and walks back inside. She hears his footsteps behind her.

“Why do you have a ring light with you anyway?” she asks, ignoring Gunther catching up and walking right next to her, having their arms touch. 

“It’s my halo, of course” he answers and holds it in front of him. It shines on him and brings out the highlighter and golden eyeshadow on his face. It sure does the trick to make him look more…. angelic. 

The two of them come back in perfect timing for the next guests, The Todd twins, to dance on stage. They wear identical baby blue clothes with white ribbons and shiny black shoes. 

“Their clothes aren’t even scary” Cece says. 

“I think they’re supposed to be the twins from the Shining” Gunther responds. 

“I’ve never seen that movie”

“You haven’t?”

“No”

“But it’s an american classic! Everyone has seen it”

“What do you know about mainstream movies?”

“Because even  _ I _ have seen it” The two of them continue to argue about movies you gotta watch and movies you’re allowed to skip, and  _ not surprisingly _ they have different movie tastes. They even argue through the entire dance. As the lights go back to normal and the music go back to the dj’s playlist, Cece finally notices how close she has moved to Gunther. They sit with their legs touching and their faces inches away from each other. Yet Cece doesn’t move away, and neither does Gunther. They only stop as they hear Gary talk about the thing they came there for. 

“And now, to announce the nominees to the Couple’s Costume Contest!” All the pairs are listed on the screens behind him along with what they’re dressed up as, and all names and costumes collectively on the dancefloor screen. Cece reads through them but suddenly freezes as she sees her own name. 

Right next to Gunther’s. 

Above the words “Angel and Demon”

“That’s the pairs  _ you _ , back at home, will vote for! And in the end of the night…. we’ll see who gets to have the spotlight dance!” The sound of the camera shutting off for the commercial break beeps in the speakers. Cece looks at Gunther, who seems to be as shocked as her. But as he looks into her eyes, he shrugs sheepishly. 

“I guess we got into the contest after all” He suddenly looks at something behind her with wide eyes, and Cece turns around to see both Rocky and Tinka hurrying up to them. 

“Oh, I will not hear the end of this…” The girls snatches a chair each and sits by the table. It’s still a table-for-two so it gets rather cramped. 

“Okay” Rocky starts with a tone that Cece wasn’t expecting. “I just met Savannah”

“The Gold finger?”

“Gold  _ digger _ ! Cece, we’ve talked about this”

“Alright, what about her?”

“She’s in the couple’s competition with Ken. I think she plans on taking all the money and leave him to dance alone if they win”

“Oh, that poor guy...” 

“Oh,  _ please” _ Tinka interrupts. “She’s not good enough of an actor to win. Besides their costumes are awful! The real enemy here is Stacy and her boyfriend Mike”

“I thought she was together with Jason” Rocky says before Cece or Gunther could open their mouths. 

“She dumped him a week ago. Now it’s all Mike, Mike, Mike, and his daddy’s bank account. They could probably win if they put a good enough of an act together” Now, from what Cece remembers from Tinka’s constant complaining for the last few months, Stacy is one step worse than Kristin from school in horribleness. Apparently she had tried to date Gunther and manipulate him into hating Tinka, which of course didn’t work. But the fact that she managed to get as far as she did proves she’s a bigger threat than Savannah. 

For some reason, thinking of Gunther being at Stacy’s feet like all of her other boyfriends have been makes Cece’s stomach drop. She has never felt that before. 

“It doesn’t matter who’s the bigger enemy, just that we have competition is bad enough” Rocky argues. “At least we got the whole Showmance thing from before on our side. This would have been a lost case if Gary didn’t know you went to prom together”

“Wait, are you serious?” Cece finally says. 

“Very” Tinka answers firmly and Rocky nods along. “You two have done great up until now, but you need to step it up”

“Step up from  _ what  _ exactly?” Gunther asks. “All we have done is dance and talk about movies while you two were gone”

“Then keep on doing that” Tinka says, her tone softening and she lays a hand on his shoulder. But then she squeezes her fingers around and he squirms under her grip. “We’re counting on you. Don’t screw this up!” And with that, Cameron calls out for Rocky, making her get back to him. And Tinka heads back to talk to the agent. 

“Talk about a nice friend” Cece mutters and glares at Rocky, who chirps and chit-chats with Cameron. She’s about to continue complaining when she feels Gunther wrap an arm around her. 

“And talk about a good sister” She turns to him. He doesn’t even look fazed by his move, yet Cece’s heart won’t stop pounding. 

The beep that signifies they’re live again interrupts the music and Gary skips up to the stage yet again. He introduces the last guest stars of the night, a dance group who made it big via the internet. Cece doesn’t recognize them, but they do look eerie with their clown costumes. 

“So you said you hadn’t watched IT, is there a reason for that?” Gunther asks and his breath ghosts her ear. She shivers and tries to glare at him. He just grins back. 

“Obviously. Who  _ isn’t _ scared of clowns?”

“I’m not” The group does a trick where they kneel and one of the dancers runs over their backs. The dancer jumps as the beat drops with a horrifying scream, all the dancers rise up and continue to dance. Cece jolts as the dancer jumps and clings closer to Gunther, who continues to watch the show without any issues. 

“Of all the things you’re not scared of….” she mutters. 

“I’m not scared of much, actually. Not blood, not clowns, not heights, or bugs. Can you name one thing I’m scared of?”

“Witches” Cece grins. 

“Very funny” Gunther looks away and she could clearly see the shade of red creeping up on his cheeks. They keep talking about fears until the music turns slow and the dim purple lights turn pink. 

“Aight, I got the request that even if this is a Halloween party, you gotta get some Valentine’s music in here” It’s the dj speaking. “So get your gals and guys to the floor, and show how much you love each other” The music is almost a little too sweet for Cece’s liking. All the spooky vibes from before is gone. She glances up at Gunther who stares off to the pairs dancing by the speakers. She has to give credit to whatever product he’s using because the highlighter is still shining on his face, making him glow prettily. He has a strange expression on his face that she can’t read. While she wonders what he’s thinking about, he turns back to her, and she meets those blue eyes yet again. 

“Wanna dance?”

“I got nothing more important to do, so…” Gunther snorts at the responds and takes her hand. They head to the dancefloor again. Cece wraps her arms around his neck and he holds her waist. They’re far closer than they were at prom, but it’s okay. Everything’s okay tonight, somehow. 

“Did I mention that I like your costume as well?” Cece asks.

“No, you only mentioned the wings”

“Because I really like them, also the makeup. You should wear makeup more often” Gunther takes a second to respond. He opens his mouth but only a small nervous laughter comes out. 

“I… I’ll take that in mind” They keep dancing through the song. Cece lays her head on his shoulder and tells herself it’s for show, but she can’t help to feel a spark of pride when she can feel his fast heartbeat. He’s as nervous as her.

“You know… I’m not really weirded out by this”

“Weirded out by what?”

“Just… us, being close to each other and stuff. This is like the third time it happened, and I… I don’t really hate it anymore”

“Is that a good thing?” She looks up at him. He’s not smiling, but she can’t tell what expression he’s making. 

“It’s not… a  _ bad _ thing. I guess it’s better then constantly being mean to each other all the time”

“Yeah… I enjoy talking to you” he confesses. That thing hiding behind his expression is getting harder for her to avoid. 

“I enjoy talking to you too” 

“So, you don’t mind this?” She feels him stroking his thumb over her back and he speaks. It seems unconscious, yet Cece goes giddy over the feeling. 

“I don’t. It’s... actually kind of nice” She glances down at their feet. “Perhaps even more nice than it should be…”

“How do you know that?” 

“Well... it’s not like you  _ also  _ think it’s nice, or…?” She hears him chuckle and looks up at him. 

“Cece, I’ve been in love with you for the past three years”

“Oh…” she looks at him dumbstruck, like a goldfish who just forgot what just happened. They stand there, not swaying to the music anymore. Some people are giving them glances.

“Almost all people I know seem to have gotten the hints by now, except you” Gunther murmurs and brings one hand up to push her hair away from her face. Whatever facade he had before is now all gone. “I hope you don’t hate me for ruining the moment with that confession…”

“I don’t hate you at all” Cece answers, looking deep into his eyes. Every tension in Gunther’s body disappears, finally. Her hand moves up to the back of his neck as she stands on her toes. Gunther closes his eyes and their lips meet. It’s gentle, perhaps a little nerve-wracking, but then Cece melts into it as he kisses her back. 

As they kiss, they are unaware of Rocky slow dancing with Cameron just a few meters away from them. Tinka sits by the corner with the agent and looks like she just touched wet food while doing the dishes. 

“This is  _ not _ what I was expecting when I told them to step up their game…” Tinka says.

“This is  _ definitely not  _ what I was expecting when I requested romantic songs…” Rocky says. And they are not the only ones who are gaping. As the slow songs fades out and Gary gets back up on stage everyone know which couple they are going to vote for. It isn’t a surprise to anyone as the showmance wins the competition. 

Although Cece is still awestruck of having her first kiss, she and Gunther picks an upbeat song for their spotlight dance. They bring up Rocky and Tinka to dance with them, as a mocking gesture to Gary’s rules. A few more people join in on the dancefloor, violating the rule from the start of the party. Cece is sure no one back at home can’t see anything but a closeup of moving bodies by now. For the last minutes the party is airing on TV, everyone is dancing to spooky dubstep. She doesn’t care, she just looks at Gunther. 

Once the dance is over and the guests are leaving the studio, Gary goes up to them with $250 dollar each. 

“I can’t say I didn’t expect this” he sighs. “I shouldn’t complain though, our viewers love their romance”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to use us for numbers” Gunther says in a flat tone. 

“Yeah, and  _ please _ don’t tell say we’re going to get more spotlight dances in the future and a raise for our troubles” Cece adds on and winks. 

“I’m not saying anything” Gary turns to leave but then looks over his shoulder. “But I like the way you’re thinking…” On their way to the exit, Tinka appears alone. 

“I didn’t get the deal” she mutters and Gunther gives her a side hug. 

“That’s a bummer, I knew she was bad news the moment I saw her”

“Are we still talking about the agent or  _ Cece _ ” Cece gasps and clutches her chest like she’s been stabbed. 

“Hey!” 

“Oh, I’m just joking with you” Tinka holds onto Gunther’s arm and tug him to the door. He doesn’t budge and only stares at Cece. 

“So..  _ that _ uh… it wasn’t just for the contest?

“No” Cece says and shakes her head. She hugs her jacket a little tighter. “I wouldn’t mind doing...  _ that... _ a few more times”

“I wouldn’t mind that either-”

“He’s free tomorrow!” Tinka interrupts and tugs one last time on his arm. “You can go out and be gross then. Let’s go home now”

“Y-yeah, tomorrow” Gunther finally looks at his sister, a blush appearing on his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow” Cece watches them leave, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. Her mind is completely blank but her body won’t stop moving around. She nibbles on her lip as she waits for Rocky to appear, who’s just as alone and gloomy as Tinka was. 

“So... turns out... he’s gay” Cece is brought back to Earth and burst out laughing. 

“Just your luck!” Rocky tugs her out and on the way home. 

“Let’s just forget about this whole night. I wanna get home, sleep, and take the Christmas decor out the closet  _ the moment _ I wake up”

“Well, you’re gonna have to do that by yourself. I got a date tomorrow” Rocky looks at her with a pained expression.

“I hate Halloween”

“Really? I think it’s become my favourite time of the year!”

**Author's Note:**

> i really wanted to post this during Halloween but i might not get the chance to do so, so have it a little early! plz leave kubos, and pretty plz leave a comment. a keysmash is appreciated. Happy Halloween, drink water and do the monster mash


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